This invention relates to apparatus for separating a blood sample by centrifuging into clot portions, so that the serum may be quickly and readily removed without contamination by the clot portion.
In recent years, biomedical and hospital laboratories have been faced with increasing demands for more and more routine, as well as specialized, diagnostic tests of blood samples, To meet the demands of these tests equipment has been devised which automatically takes a sample or specimen of blood which has been placed in a cup and subjects it to a series of programmed tests which eventuate in a readout on a record member. While these analyzers have increased the efficiency of performing the necessary tests, a problem has continued in finding ways and means of separating the serum from the clot portion and removing the serum for analysis. Various types of tube and plug devices have been suggested by the prior art. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,512,940, issued May 19, 1970, a device consisting of a tube with a filter at one end thereof is inserted into a second but larger diameter tube containing a sample of the material desired to be filtered. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,508,653, issued Apr. 28, 1970, a piston in the form of a solid plug is driven through a centrifuged blood sample so as to position itself between the serum and clot portions of the centrifuged sample. The tube within the tube concept of U.S. Pat. No. 3,512,940 suffers from the apparent deficiency of being costly and not readily adaptable for disposal after a single use. The plug arrangement of U.S. Pat. No. 3,508,653 has the shortcoming of utilizing a solid plug member which when subjected to a substantial centrifugal force, may also develop radial forces acting against the side of the sample tube, thus creating the danger of breakage.